Contracts for July 30, 2021

Sur le même sujet

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  2 octobre 2020 | International, Terrestre, Sécurité

  General Dynamics gets $1.2 billion to build short-range air defense systems for US Army

  Jen Judson WASHINGTON — General Dynamics Land Systems has secured a $1.2 billion contract at the close of the fiscal year to build and deliver the U.S. Army's Interim Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense system, or IM-SHORAD. The Stryker combat vehicle-based system includes a mission equipment package designed by Leonardo DRS. That mission equipment package includes Raytheon's Stinger vehicle missile launcher. The estimated completion date of the contract is Sept. 30, 2025, according to a Defense Department contract announcement. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order. GDLS officials told Defense News on Oct. 1 that the initial order for the contract, worth $230 million, is for 28 vehicles, and that the company has begun ordering material and laying out production for those vehicles. The first vehicle under this contract will roll off the line in roughly 18 months, but the first platoon will be fielded in March 2021 and the first battalion (of 32 vehicles) will be fielded in September 2021 using prototypes already built to fill it out. A second battalion will be fielded in 2022. The Army wrapped up developmental testing for the SHORAD system after experiencing a minor “hiccup” that, when paired with complications due to the coronavirus pandemic, set the program back by a few weeks, Maj. Gen. Robert Rasch, the service's program executive officer for missiles and space, said Aug. 5. The production contract award came on time. It took just 19 months from the time the service generated the requirement to the first delivery of a platform for testing, answering an urgent call in 2016 from U.S. Army Europe to fill the short-range air defense capability gap. The service received the requirement to build the system in February 2018. After a shoot-off in the desert of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and subsequent evaluations of vendors, the Army selected a Stryker combat vehicle-based system with the Leonardo DRS mission equipment package. Training has already begun at White Sands in preparation for an early user assessment in the latter part of the year. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/10/01/general-dynamics-gets-12-billion-to-build-short-range-air-defense-systems-for-us-army/

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  20 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  USAF Picks B-21 For Software Learning Demo Challenge

  By Steve Trimble The U.S. Air Force has selected the Northrop Grumman B-21 to demonstrate a potentially revolutionary approach to flightworthy software. The future stealth bomber will demonstrate a software architecture running the operational flight program (OFP) that learns and adapts as it flies a mission, says Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. Such an approach potentially “allows them to land with better code than they took off with,” Roper tells Aerospace DAILY. The architecture enables the code to update itself during a mission. Asked if the demonstration involves software code in the OFP, the operating system of a military aircraft, Roper replied affirmatively: “Within the OFP. That kind of adaptability is what we want to aspire to.” As a special access program, details of the B-21's schedule, capabilities and even cost are kept secret. But Roper says he is able to discuss what he calls the “digital bullet challenge,” albeit within strict limits. Asked if the B-21 software demonstrations imply the insertion of a deep learning technique known as a neural network, Roper declined to answer. “Details of how I won't go into,” Roper says. “But B-21 is trying to not just do agile software. They want to blaze new territory, a new trail for the Air Force. The idea that one of our most complicated airplanes with one of the most challenging missions is also taking on one of the most challenging software approaches to make their software living [and] breathing on the plane itself is inspiring. “They're going to be pushing the boundaries of how aircraft software should work in this century, and increasingly the software is where the cutting edge—the winning edge—is going to come from,” he explained. Roper's description appears to push the boundaries of software used in the flight computers of a commercial or military aircraft. Aircraft certification standards demand a highly rigid approach to software architecture, with the function of each line of code validated and verified on the ground before it is allowed to be used in flight. The challenge set for the B-21 could lead to altering or even adding software lines of code in the OFP during a flight. The Air Force launched the B-21 program in 2015 by awarding a $21.4 billion contract to Northrop. Air Force officials have previously announced that first flight is scheduled around December 2021. The aircraft will take off from Northrop's final assembly center in Palmdale, California, and fly to the flight test center on the adjoining Edwards Air Force Base. https://aviationweek.com/defense/usaf-picks-b-21-software-learning-demo-challenge

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  14 novembre 2024 | International, Terrestre

  Germany needs to step up its role in defence as U.S. may do less in Europe, minister says